Hey
how tracks is Horseshoe curve 3 or 4?
3
From the Wikipedia website:
Horseshoe Curve is a famous railroad curve in central Pennsylvania in the United States (it is a horseshoe curve).
It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and later used by the Penn Central, then Conrail. It is currently owned by Norfolk Southern Railway, and used by Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian service. It is located in Kittanning Gap at the summit of the Allegheny Front, approximately 5 miles (8 km) west of Altoona. The bend is a tight arc of approximately 220 degrees. It comprises two separate curves; on the north side, the radius measures 637 ft (194 m), tightening to 609 ft (186 m) on the south side. The curve was built in response to the difficulty of constructing a railroad through the summit of the Allegheny Mountains. It was designed by J. Edgar Thomson and Herman Haupt, opening on F
like i said …3
Venardos and J Edgar have it exactly right. Let me add that if you haven’t been there, you should go. If fact you should go even if you have been there. I have visited many times and it never gets boring. There is lots of action all day and plenty of other railroad sites to see in the Altoona area. You’ll love it!
There is a brief video clip of the Curve in this promo spot (you have to stay with it for about 25 seconds before the Horseshoe Curve shows up) for the Circus Train Adventure DVD. It was a fascinating place to travel through on board the Circus train. The vestibules filled up with Circus folks with their cameras anxious to see the Curve. The screeching of wheel-on-rail is nearly deafening. I went around the Curve in June, with lots of summer foliage. There were plenty of folks watching trains go by from the viewing location near the retired Pennsy locomotive you see in the clip.
…The Horseshoe Curve Park was completely redone to the tune of roughly 5 million dollars back about 1993. Almost everything new…Parking lot…Museum…Funicular transport up to track level…Newly constructed concrete steps {up to track level}…snacks were avail as opened…In general, completely updated and redone at that time.
Roughly 7 years before that the K-4 steam engine was removed and a diesel electric locomotive installed on display in it’s place…
As others have said…It is a great place to visit for serious rail fans. If you like mountains…You’re in the heart of the Alleghenies.
It is a continuing grade up from Altoona to Summit. Roughly 1.8% and I believe about 1.45 on the curve. Many heavy trains upgrade {west}, require pushers to make the “hill”…Last when I visited they provided a speaker announcing RR talk on RR frequencies so fans can listen in on the activity.
The Horseshoe is great in the day light but even better after dark. just watch out for the bears.
And there is a story behide that but i not going into it now.
Not bad in the dead of winter either; no bears. Here’s a wb NS manifest I caught on Jan 22, 2007:
Yes, I know those are really ES40DC’s and not CW44-9’s. I wasn’t so NS-GE savvy back then.[#oops].
And like Venardos mentioned “The screeching of wheel-on-rail is nearly deafening”.
…Enjoyed your video…Glad old man winter has retreated.
Took a trip there in September 1996. Loved every minute of it. Ranks in the top 3 of all time trips. Day I arrived there it rained all day. Next day (the planned day of visiting the curve), it was sunny & beautiful clear blue skies. Next day when I left, rain & drizzle again all day. -Now a question which comes to mind–has there ever been a photo on record of either 3 or 4 trains passing by one another on the curve? If so, that would awesome to see.
…I don’t know about 4, but I’m sure there are plenty of photos with 3 trains moving thru at the same time. During WWII that route was in constant use and doubt it would have been difficult to achieve at least 3 at once.
Look around on the “net” and I’ll bet you can find one with 3 right on here…The 6 times I’ve been around it we saw another train other than the one we were riding. I have a video taken from in an Amtrak engine and just as it arrived at the Curve, a freight coming the other direction blocked our view of the inside of the area. Producer “added” footage of another run at the end to be able to see it.
ive seen 3 at once in veiw from the Curve when i was there early 90’s…cant cite where…CRS prolly… but i know ive seen pics steam era with 3 trains in view
I live in the Pittsburgh area and I make the drive out to Altoona several times a year. I have seen three trains on the curve quite a few times over the years. It is a relatively rare sight but it still happens.
our family took a trip last year to the curve.we also saw cresson and the tunnels at galitzin.very well worth the trip.
stay safe
Joe
Sounds like the trip we’re going to make in a couple of weeks, Joe!
There are pics from 1985, 2003, and 2004 from my trips to Horseshoe on my site (http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html). Personally, I love the changes, especially the funicular making it easy for people to go up the the trackside park.
Kevin
Here’s video I found clearly showing three trains at once around the curve. Check out the smoking helper on the last train.